Language is something that most of us take for granted as we go about our daily lives. We chat, listen and even organise our thinking using this skill. But babies and young children are only just learning about language and its uses. So how can we help them, and what are the landmarks in learning language?
A good starting point is to realise that babies' and young children's language is tied in to the quality of support that they receive from adults. This is because, although it is generally accepted that babies are born with some inbuilt sense of language, they need to learn about the rules of communication and how the sounds that they can produce are linked with meaning. The key way in which babies do this is through interaction with adults. The importance of adults in stimulating babies' language is stressed in the new framework for the under-threes, Birth to Three Matters, which has as one of its four aspects 'a skilful communicator'.
Tuning in
In the first year of life, babies are learning many skills. They have to 'tune in' to the language that they are hearing and notice the sounds that are being used. It is often said that you should not 'talk down' to babies, but the reality is that Mother Nature has programmed us to do exactly that. Linguists studying the way in which we relate to babies have found that adults tend to use something called 'motherese' or 'parentese'.
Adults almost naturally change the way in which they pitch their voices and use intonation when they are holding a baby. We generally talk in a higher pitched voice and more slowly. Our higher pitched voices seem to attract the baby's attention, and studies have shown that babies respond to this tone.
As well as changing the tone of voice, we also start to change the way in which we put our words together. Sentences become shorter and often quite repetitious as a way of helping the baby to 'crack' the code. Amazingly, this change in the way we speak to babies is not confined just to English, but is seen in other languages as well.
Bit by bit, babies respond to the adult input. Babbling becomes more tuneful and strings of sounds are put together in imitation of sentences. By nine months, most babies are doing so well at cracking the code that they can understand some words and are beginning to use only the sounds that are needed in the language they are exposed to. Adults also help babies by pointing to the objects that we are talking about. This gives babies clues to the meaning of words.
Smiling faces
As well as breaking the language code, babies also need to learn the skills of communicating. They need to work out and respond to other people's expressions.
Here again adults help out. We may not intentionally do it, but most of us will make stronger facial movements as we entertain and communicate with babies. Our eyebrows lift, lip movements become more exaggerated, and we smile and use our eyes more. We pretend that we are surprised when we play 'peepo' and other early games. These interactions are incredibly powerful learning experiences for the baby. They learn that communication is enjoyable and that you have to take turns and use facial and other gestures.
Holding the baby
As with other areas of child development, language development does not happen in isolation. Babies thrive on being cuddled and held as we speak to them.
Interestingly, it also helps to 'switch on' our parentese. The need for physical contact means that practitioners working with young babies really need to create plenty of special moments when the baby can 'snuggle in' with their key person.
Nappy changes, dressing and feeds, along with times when you can simply stare out of a window and watch the world go by together, are special moments.
Be responsive
Later on in the language journey, toddlers and Foundation Stage children still need us to be responsive. The toddler with emerging language needs us to recognise and acknowledge their two-word utterances. We expand their sentences so they can see that we have understood them. 'Dink more' may be responded to by saying 'Do you want some drink in your beaker?' Such expansion on the original words allows the toddler to hear a full sentence, while later on with older children, it helps them to self-correct their grammar.
Avoiding interrogation
By the time most children reach three years old, speech and language skills should be on their way. Sadly, it is often at this time that overly enthused adults can fall into the trap of interrogating children.
It can be too easy to get in the habit of asking a whole series of questions such as, 'What colour are you using?' or 'How many are there?' These kind of questions often attract only one- word answers and perhaps this is not surprising. After all, when you are happily engaged in play, do you really want to be hit over the head with a learning intention, or would you simply prefer a good old chat?